Changing the removable storage paradigm

One vendor thinks it can change the way people look at and use removable storage.

I participated on a conference call yesterday with a vendor that thinks it can change the way people look at and use removable storage. Two elements can potentially make this a reality. The first element is the reduced number of floppy drives that ship with laptop computers. The second element is the consumer's willingness to use USB-based storage devices.

This combination makes Memorex's FlashDisc look like a killer product. They've designed it such that it's simple to useyou just plug it inand it's relatively inexpensive. They're quoting a retail price of $19.99 for a three-pack of disks. Each disk holds 16 Mbytes of information. The disks are in the shape of a disk (what else?) and measure just over 2 in. in diameter.

Here's the rub for me: I already have flash disks that work just fine, and they're even smaller that what Memorex is offering. There's also significantly higher capacity, but we'll come back to that.

When I posed this beef with the Memorex folks, I got an answer that was difficult to decipher, something along the lines of "most flash disks are much higher capacity, hence much more expensive." The other quote was that users are reticent to part with their current flash disks, so the pass-along wouldn't be anything like that that of yesterday's floppy disks.

Sorry, but I just can't buy this. The current flash disks are smaller, and they can certainly be produced at a 16-Mbyte capacity, ie., for the same price as the FlashDiscs, if not less (because they require less plastic). Hence, I'm much more likely to carry one of those than a FlashDisc.